Album Reviews: Strategy

“Clocky Man”/“Snowdrift Dub” 7-Inch (ZamZam)

[DUB TECHNO] Strategy’s strategy is usually pretty clear:
Fuse dub, techno, house and ambient music together using analog
synthesizers, then get weird. Paul Dickow, aka Strategy, has kept the
formula fresh in his 10-plus years of beat-making, because his tactics
vary so much. His music has been released seemingly everywhere,
carefully catered to the style of each particular label. With this new
7-inch, Dickow crafts beautiful, dance-floor-ready jams perfectly suited
to ZamZam’s dub-techno sound. “Clocky Man” explodes suddenly with a
muddy, wobbly bassline set over driving high hats and classic reggae
chords churning in the distance. “Snowdrift Dub” gets a little more
esoteric, as the reverberations of a clean piano are carried through an
array of gates and samplers. Both tracks could use a little more room to
breathe, but that’s nothing a skilled DJ can’t fix.